When a May 7 ABC New/Washington Post poll showed that 68% of voters see 80-year0old President Joe Biden as too old to rune for a second term, Democrats couldn’t blame the results on Republicans. But the real issue for Biden is not his age per se but the degree of decrepitude in both his mental and physical acuity. Biden’s apologists point to the fact that he’s been making gaffes for years but that has little to do with voters’ perception that he’s too old for a second term. Biden said, while a candidate in 2020, that he’d serve one term, handing the baton to a younger generation. When Biden announced his 2024 run April 25, Democrats groned, realizing that a sizable number of voters think he’s too old for a second term. Biden defied all the polls and pundits saying that his age makes him vulnerable in 2024, largely because he appears far more frail than 77-year-old former President Donald Trump.
NBC News recent poll showed that 68% of respondents say that they worry about Biden’s health with 55% saying they have “major” concerns. Biden seems to relish all the attention over his age, often making self-deprecating jokes. In the hyper-partisan age, Democrat still back Biden’s reelection by strong majorities, despite admitting it’s not in the best interest of the country. Biden waxes philosophical, saying his advance age gives him wisdom over his more youthful opponents. Yet when you look a whether the country’s better off than when Biden took office, it’s a mixed bag both in domestic and foreign policy. Recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, Biden’s economy had a strong tailwind yet somehow the economy was hit with hyperinflation, leaving the country on shaky ground. Biden gets poor marks in polls on managing the economy, despite the recovery from Covid-19.
When it comes to foreign policy, that’s where Biden is in quicksand an\d sinking quickly. Deciding to join Ukraine’s war against the Kremlin, Biden made the biggest military, economic and strategic blunder in U.S. history. Whatever problems faced by Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 24, 2022 invasion, Biden decided to fund Ukraine’s proxy war against the Russian Federation. Biden has wrecked decades of diplomatic relations and détente, turning the Russian Federation into a bitter adversary. Instead of working with Russia to solve global problems, the U.S. is not on its own, getting no cooperation from the Kremlin since Biden joined Zelensky’s war. Kremlin officials now see the Ukraine War as an existential war against the U.S. and NATO, not a war with Ukraine.
Biden’s diplomacy with China has been almost as bad as Russia, provoking a future military conflict over Taiwan. Biden slammed China in 2021 for perpetrating genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in Western China, not to mention squelching a pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. Biden’s belligerent rhetoric toward Russia and China drove the two nuclear-armed superpowers into a political, economic, military and strategic alliance. Biden’s shown zero capacity to get along with U.S. adversaries, instead pushing them to break off diplomatic relations with Washington. So when it comes to age, the real issue for Biden is about his abysmal judgment, wrecking U.S.-Russian and U.S.-Chinese relations. How Biden thinks he can conduct U.S. foreign policy in a vacuum without help from U.S. adversaries is anyone’s guess, showing he’s harmed U.S. national security.
Instead of Democrats looking out at the good of the country, they’ve accepted Biden’s decisions to run for four more years. Democrats refuse to acknowledge Biden’s physical and cognitive challenges today and in the future. Getting the U.S. into a war with the Kremlin should be reason enough for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, 55, waits in the wings for Biden to change his mind. Sizable numbers of Republicans won’t admit that if they had a suitable Democrat candidate they’d jump ship and cross over to vote Democrat. For many independent voters, they dread a choice between Biden and 77-year-old former President Donald trump, believing both candidates are too old. If 44-year-old Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fl.) becomes the GOP nominee, it would be difficult for Biden to retain independent voters.
Polls show that age is not the real factor leading to reservations about Biden. Most voters see Biden making bad decisions on the economy and foreign policy, more than concerns about age per se. While Trump is only three-and-a-half years younger than Biden, voters aren’t concerned about his age slowing him down. Democrats can manage a modern campaign by keeping Biden reading teleprompters, scripted carefully to prevent the kind of gaffes that would undermine his campaign. At the end of the day, it’s the height of selfishness for Biden to run for reelection. Newsom would be ready to go when Biden gives the word he’s changed his mind. Whether liberal or conservative, voters want a new generation to takeover, knowing it’s long overdue. U.S. economy and foreign policy can’t take four more years of Biden’s feeble management, requiring an urgent change to a younger generation.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
